Thursday, 19 January 2012

Abdullah Öcalans’ resistance and a reply

Kurdish
Peoples’ Leader Abdullah Öcalan refused to see his brother Mehmet Öcalan at the
island prison of Imrali today (January 19th). It was the first time Mehmet
Öcalan had been allowed by the Turkish Ministry of Justice to travel to Imrali
since October 12th 2011. It has been even longer since Öcalan’s lawyers were
allowed see him, the last visit to the maximum security prison which is known
as ‘Europe’s Guantanamo’
was on July 27th 2011; making it six months of total isolation for the Kurdish
Leader. In a message passed on to Mehmet Öcalan via the prison authorities, Abdullah
Öcalan was reported to have said: ‘The situation is very delicate here. It is not
appropriate for us to accept the visit.’

Those who have experience or know of
prison life will be aware that refusing visits from family members and lawyers
is a form of resistance against the injustices of prison authorities and the state.
One can say that Öcalan has refused the visit to disarm the state and end the
blackmailing campaign they have been carrying out against himself, the
Kurdistan Freedom Movement and Kurdish people by preventing his family, lawyers
and the Kurdish people from getting news from Imrali. In essence Öcalan has
said to the state, ‘you cannot use my situation here as a tool for blackmail,
if I am not going to conduct useful meetings in which I have information regarding
developments, then there is no point.’

Undoubtedly the AKP government and
Turkish state will use this as an excuse and claim that Öcalan is in self
imposed isolation. However the news that the Ministry of Justice refused a
request from Öcalan’s lawyers (yes there are still some on the outside!) on the
grounds that the boat wasn’t working at the same time Mehmet Öcalan and the
relatives of two other prisoners were travelling to Imrali on that specific
boat will falsify this claim. This also reveals once again that the isolation
of Öcalan is arbitrary and a political decision by the AKP government.

The current situation is also
reminiscent of the 1980s; the prison resistance of leading PKK members such as
Mazlum Doğan, Kemal Pir, Mehmet Hayri Durmuş and ‘The Fours’ lay the
foundations for the modern Kurdish National Movement. At a time when mass
arrests continue raising the number of Kurdish political prisoners to around
15,000 it seems the resistance behind the walls of Turkish colonialism will
this time lay the foundations for the ultimate freedom of Kurds and Kurdistan.

A couple of
hours after Mehmet Öcalan returned from Imrali a bomb went off in Colemerg
(Hakkari) city centre; killing a sixteen year old and wounding fifteen other
people. The police began attacking bystanders after the explosion. As is well
known Colemerg is at the heart of Kurdish movement (the BDP won 90% of the vote
in recent elections) and has been targeted by paramilitary groups who have been
threatening civilians and creating provocations around the city. An Islamist
group calling themselves Mezit also circulated leaflets there recently threatening
people who had ties to the Kurdish movement. The PKK had warned of provocative
incidents in the city and asked people to be wary. According to the PKK, Mezit is
the new name of JITEM and an instrument of the Turkish deep state. The Turkish
media have already claimed that the bomb attack targeted a police vehicle,
however Hakkari province governor has said in a statement that the police vehicle
veered off the road and lost control, leading to three police officers being
injured.

Therefore
can we ask: is this attack the latest reply against Abdullah Öcalans’ and
Kurdish peoples’ resistance?